Zoe Heinrichs

ENG 102
9-17-12

Franciss Journey
Francis Phelan, the main character in William Kennedys Ironweed, certainly has lived an
eventful life. Hes killed, accidentally and purposely, and watched others die at their own hands
and at the hands of others. Hes seen and felt some of the worlds worst pain, by way of the
actions of himself and others. Throughout the novel, we see Francis transform from a master of
running away from himself and his problems, to a master of redemption and atonement. We
watch his journey and breakthroughs from the hopeless, dreary beginning, to the hopeful
possibilities of the middle, and to the comforting, heartwarming conclusion.
At the beginning of the novel, Francis is depicted as a useless bum, which is how he
views himself. Hes also depicted to have an alcohol problem, which illustrates the novels theme
of alcoholism. During the Great Depression, many people had nothing else but the comfort of
alcohol, which ironically led way to them having even less. We learn of some of Franciss painful
past life events, such as his witnessing of his fathers suicide; the memory tortured him.
(Kennedy 15). Soon after learning this, we learn that Francis accidentally killed his own son,
Gerald (Kennedy 17-9), by dropping him as an infant. As Francis recalls this event at Geralds
grave, Gerald silently tells his father he has acts of expiation to perform for abandoning the
family, and then when these final acts are complete, you will stop trying to die because of me.

I believe this ghost of Gerald is actually a part of Franciss subconscious, willing him to let go
of the pain of his past and move forward with his life. In this short scene, Ironweeds themes of
redemption, forgiveness, guilt, and regret begin to emerge. Geralds words set the stage for
Franciss journey towards redemption, although Francis is still unaware of this event. In order to
achieve such redemption, forgiveness is something Francis must learn to give to himself and
others, and to receive. Further, seeing the life Francis leads at the present time gives us reason to
believe he has guilt and regret from his past, but we really dont discover any solid proof of this
until now. All of these elements make this scene one of the most powerful in the entire novel.
Burrowing again into Franciss past, we learn of Franciss crimes. Francis intentionally
kills a man by the name of Harold Allen, a scab guilty of taking striking workers jobs. The
story is recounted through a conversation with Harold Allens ghost (Kennedy 25-6), which
again I believe to be a manifestation of Franciss subconscious. In this case, Harold Allen
accuses Francis of being a coward for abandoning his family, and Francis argues with him
(Kennedy 26). This is significant because it shows Franciss inner struggle about leaving his
family; he feels guilty, but tries to justify it to himself. I believe thats what Francis has been
doing since he left his family; justifying his actions when theyre brought into question, and
drinking to suppress his guilty emotions. When Franciss fantasy conversation with Harold Allen
is interrupted by Rudy, he jumps into another story of a man he failed to save on a train
(Kennedy 26-9). This man, a horse thief named Aldo Campione, then makes an appearance
(Kennedy 29), which suggests that this is another past event Francis has guilty feelings about.
By the middle of Ironweed, Francis is well on his way towards the redemption he so
desperately longs for, although hes not quite aware of this yet, at least not to our knowledge. We
learn more of his past guilt and regrets; Rowdy Dick is another man who died at Franciss hands

(Kennedy 72). Rowdy Dick pays Francis a visit while hes washing up at his friend Jacks
apartment (Kennedy 71-6), and just like Harold Allen, Francis justifies to Rowdy, Im sorry I
broke your head so bad, but I hope you remember I had my reasons (Kennedy 76). Francis did
in fact act in self defense, but nonetheless its apparent he still carries around some guilt about
the ordeal. By this point in the novel, it becomes obvious that Francis has a lot of things to be
guilty for. However, hes also won our hearts at this point in the novel, so its hard to look at his
actions with disdain. Rather, we root for him to succeed in his journey towards redemption and
to make peace with himself and his past.
Looking back on his life, Francis wonders why he had never committed suicide:
Francis did not understand this flirtation with suicide, this flight from it. He did
not know why he hadnt made the big leap the way Helens old man had when he
knew he was done in. Too busy, maybe, figurin out the next half hour. No way for
Francis ever to get a real good look past the sunset, for hes the kind of fella just
keep runnin when things went bust; never had the time to stop anyplace easy just
to die(Kennedy 146).
This represents a breakthrough for Francis; hes finally acknowledging the fact that hes run
away from everything, rather than guiltily justifying it. Francis goes on to reminisce about his
first flight, which occurred when he left Colonie Street for good after his mother told him
Annie was not welcome in her home. He states his second flight as occurring when he killed
Harold Allen, the scab. He goes on to tell us that hes fled at just about every chance hes
gotten since he left Annie, but I noticed that he doesnt include leaving Annie and his children as

a flight. Perhaps that is because at this point in the novel, he still views his leaving as what was
the best for them, despite contradictory feelings of guilt and regret about doing so.
Nonetheless, shortly after this revelation, Francis decides to return to his family, at least
just for a visit. He uses his day of work wages to buy a turkey, and knocks on the door of his old
house. Its particularly surprising how easily Annie welcomes him, after so many years. In fact,
the only person who doesnt welcome him this easily is Peggy, his daughter: Im doing fine, no
thanks to you, she replies when Francis approaches her, questioning her well-being (Kennedy
178). However, even Peggy learns to forgive, after Francis reads a letter she wrote him as a
young girl: Peg was suddenly tearful. She put the fork on the sink and went to her father, whose
hands were folded on the table. She sat behind him and put her right hand on top of his (Kennedy
187). A touching moment, this shows us the power of forgiveness and the importance of its
place in the novel.
After a happy day with his family, Francis leaves again and drinks for the first time in a
week (Kennedy 192). He ends up in the jungle, a fugitive city in which an old friend of his
lives. He drinks more there, until the jungle is invaded by Raiders, who attack the bums and burn
down their temporary living quarters. During this commotion, Rudy is hit in the head by a raider,
and later dies at the hospital. After Rudy dies, Francis leaves to find Helen, and discovers her
dead as well. This section of the novel is written in past tense, which makes it particularly
interesting. I believe Kennedy chose to do this in order to show us Franciss overwhelming
sadness upon finding Helen dead; sadness has the ability to put people into a trance-like state. He
had mostly redeemed himself, and Helen had not ever been able to do this. He remembers her
saying, All I want in the world is to have my name put back among the family. He had
completed that task earlier that day, and Helen would never get the chance.

In the scene to follow, the last few pages in the novel, Francis is on a train, considering
what to do next: He would then decide that he could not choose among all the possibilities that
were his. By now he was sure only that he lived in a world where events decided themselves, and
that all a man could do was to stay one jump into their mystery (Kennedy 224). In a
conversation with Strawberry Bill, Francis reveals that hes running from the cops, to which
Strawberry Bill replies, No cops chasin you, pal (Kennedy 225). Taking a final sip of whiskey,
Francis begins to think of Annies attic, and then throws the whiskey bottle out of the train,
claiming to hear music after doing so. Next thing we read, Francis is described as being in
Annies attic, hiding from the police he fears are after him and contemplating his future with
Annie and his family. So what really happens? Thats left up to us, as individual readers, to
decide. I believe that Francis did in fact return home to his family. How could he not, after theyd
forgiven him for all hed done? After the two predominant companions in his life, Rudy and
Helen, died? However, regardless of the intended ending, one thing is apparent; the novel
concludes with Francis finally holding the inner peace hed been looking for.

Works Cited
Kennedy, William. Ironweed. New York: Penguin Books, 1984. Print.